Cantonese Names

[Paul T England]

I am after the Catnonese names for the following weapons if anyone can help.

Rope Dart
Sword & Shield
Sai / Iron Rulers?

Thanks
Paul

[Lam Tong Long]

Sai = Iron Ruler = 'Tid Jek'

'Tid' = Iron
'Jek' = Ruler

As for sword and shield it depends on the type of sword. Could be 'gim'. Might be 'dao'. Might be something else.

Rope dart, I have no clue about!

Hope that helps,

Jay

[Lam Tong Long]

Just noticed you are from Newcastle...LOL!

[Paul T England]

Hi,

Yes from Newcastle. I guess you train at Sifu Ng's school?

I am off to Fatsan in April and while I am there I would like to pick up an unusal weapon forms. I really like the idea of Butterfly knife or Darn Dao combo'd with the shield as I don't have it in my 7 Star Mantis system so I was going to request it while there.

Paul

[Paul T England]

Doh!!! Lam tong Long probably means you are from the Sotuhern Mantis group!!! sorry my Cantonese is very bad.

Paul

[Lam Tong Long]

Yeah, that's us!

We train opposite Edmund's CLF classes (the NE Chinese Association or summit like that). Above the Cosmic Ballroom nightclub (used to be Stage Door).

My Cantonese is pretty bad too. I speak hakka but the forms/weapons (and also food) I make sure I know in Cantonese!

I didn't know there was Northern Mantis in Newcastle. Where are you based?

[Eddie]

I take it you are going to do CLF in Futsan right? (figured something like that since you mentioned king moi too).

i know some of the guys from the ITWASA school down here.

[Paul T England]

Hi Guys,

I did CLF a long time before I did Northern Mantis so I have a passing interest but don't train it.

I am actually going to research wing chun and play a bit tai chi. Fatsan is just a bit of a holiday after Mantis training in Hong Kong.

I teach 7 Star Mantis in Whitley Bay and South Gosforth and we do have a small group training in Eldon Leisure once a week.

Feel free to pop along and watch if you want.

Paul
www.moifa.co.uk

[Lam Tong Long]

Cool mate, likewise. Will PM you my number so if you are ever around Chinatown way you will be welcome come and have a look/say hello. Most of our lads are chinese so if you need any translation help they could probably help you out better.

All the best, Jay

[GeneChing]

He guesses that rope dart would be sik biu, based on a direct translation of the Mandarin shen biao.

Shield is tun (Mandarin duan). I've only seen shield practiced with dao (although in Cantonese, it sounds more like 'doh' and is usually spelled do), never gim.

[CFT]

Paul,

Rope dart - sing biu

I don't think there are sword/shield combos. The straight sword (gim/jian) is considered the highest weapon in CMA and is used on its own. Sabre (dao) is combined with shield - more normally a rattan one I think. Speaking of CLF: just found one of their forms on the net - broadsword and rattan shield (daan dao tung paai).

Another word for shield is "tun". The same character used in the compound word for "contradiction": mao tun. Here is a link to the classical story of the impenetrable shield and the all-piercing spear (http://www.chinapage.com/story/illogic.html)

I think Iron Ruler should sound more like "teet tsek". Canto romanization can be a bit hit and miss - my examples certainly aren't standard but I've tried to approach it from an English speaker's viewpoint.

[Lam Tong Long]

Yeah 'sik biu' sounds about right. 'biu' as in (?) spear and dart follow.

As for 'dao' I was meaning what kind of dao would affect how you say it.
ie. Just 'dao' or maybe 'da dao' or 'pu dao' or whatever else.

[Ben Gash]

I've got rope dart as Fei Tuo, and sword and shield as Dahn Do Tang Pah Dip.

[CFT]

Ben, in my opinion the "dip" is redundant though it does convey the idea that the shield is round. I suppose the 4-character form name is more aesthetically appealing to me.

[Paul T England]

Many thanks guys, its good to see so many uk based people responding. Maybe traditional kung fu is not dead! LOL

That should be enough translations to cause a few headaches.

Hopefully I will be able to learn broadsword and shield while out there as I think its a cool weapon.

Paul

[Eddie]

hey paul,
when i was in hk last year, my guest house (more guest closet/room) was right next to the LKW mantis school. If you dont have accomodation yet, I can reccoment Joy Guesthouse.

The area is Sham siu Po - actually a very bad area, but still much better than some of the better areas in my country, so it was ok.

[Ben Gash]

I used to love Sham Shui Po when I lived in Hong Kong, it's got that lively seediness to it :)

[Eddie]

kinda like the Camden of HK right?

saw a good few chinese punks. well, kinda more chinese emo/goth than punk, but just as good.

I have video tape footage of that mantis school practising staff form on the building top next to me. i think i was like 3 stories higher than them, so i got a good view.